Square-Enix Head Says Wii 2 in 2011

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The CEO of the company that makes Final Fantasy believes Nintendo's next console will be more like 360 and PS3.

By Matt Casamassina

According to a report by the Financial Times, Square-Enix president Yoichi Wada believes that the successor to Nintendo's incredibly popular Wii videogame console will arrive in 2011. The Times is vague on details with regard to Wii 2, but paraphrases Wada as saying it should debut with "functionality more like that of Microsoft's Xbox 360 or Sony's PlayStation 3, and possibly a different controller."

If Wada is referring to more powerful hardware and the ability to output high-definition graphics, he's right. In a June 2009 interview with Venture Beat, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata confirmed that the successor to Wii would embrace the new HD age. "If we have an opportunity to make a new console, it will probably support HD because it is now common throughout the world."

Nintendo's Wii system debuted in November of 2006, which means that a 2011 release for Wii 2 would allow the console a traditional five-year life cycle. Sony's leaders have stated that they believe PlayStation 3 will enjoy a much longer life cycle. Could the same happen for Wii, which continues to outsell its competitors on a monthly basis? That all depends on whether or not Wii can continue to support innovative ideas that sell.

"As we continue our research and study for new hardware, when we will be able to launch a new kind of hardware will actually depend on when we can change entertainment completely, and so have a strong impact on people around the world," Iwata said during a financial briefing two years ago "Or, there will certainly be a time when we have to say that we have done everything possible with the current machine, that we can never propose anything new."